ICC Champions Trophy: Top 5 wicket-takers in the history of the competition

Glenn McGrath was a disciplined bowler

The emergence of T20 cricket has revolutionised the art of batting over the years with plenty of innovations and changes in the technique of the players to enable free flowing stroke play. The slam-bang format has evolved the game with shots all around the park, making it a dreadful place for the bowlers.

However, there are a few instances when the bowlers have dominated the shorter format of the game by picking up crucial wickets to break the backbone of the opposition batting unit.

With the eighth edition of the Champions Trophy about to commence in a week's time, the fortunes of the team will be heavily reliant on their bowling unit to make optimum use of the conditions and swing on offer in England. 

With the iconic tournament round the corner, take a look at the five leading wicket-takers of the tournament. 

#5 Glenn McGrath

Arguably one of the best bowlers in the history of the game, Glenn McGrath is known for troubling the batsmen with his consistent line and length.The right arm medium pacer was the spearhead of the Australian bowling department and combined with the likes of Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, and Shane Warne to form the most lethal bowling unit of the modern era.

The 47-year-old has fond memories of the Champions Trophy as he scalped 21 wickets in 12 matches with his best figures being 5/37 against New Zealand in 2002.

McGrath bowled one of the finest spells in limited overs cricket in that game as he wrecked the Kiwis with a brilliant five-wicket haul to take his side to a comprehensive 164 run win. The tournament, however, did not go according to the plan for the Aussies as they lost to Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second semi-final of the tournament after being bowled out for a low score of 162 runs.  

He was part of the Australian squad for four editions of the tournament starting from the year 2000. Although he could not manage to pick up any wicket in the solitary match of the edition, he came back strongly in the next edition by scalping eight wickets in the three matches.

In the following edition, McGrath picked up three wickets in the three league matches and in his last appearance in the 2006 edition of the competition, he finished with 10 wickets in the five matches.